As you all probably know, I’ve been a Firefox user for three weeks now. I’ve been using the OS X version of Firefox 13 in conjunction with Mozilla’s Android version. Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with the desktop version and the syncing services between both versions, but the Android version wasn’t a native app and was pretty slow because of that.
Today, though, Mozilla has fixed that issue by rolling out an update to Android Firefox. This update brings a plethora of improvements to the mobile browser including native code, HTML 5 and Flash support, and a revamped UI that looks very good.
Compared to the last iteration, Firefox’s scrolling is much smoother – buttery-smooth, even – and the app and pages both load noticeably quicker, as well. The addition of native code really does make the app feel better.
Luckily, the addition of native code doesn’t take syncing away. Everything that I’ve personally come to expect from the browser’s syncing service is still there and will still show up on my desktop.
All in all, the update to mobile Firefox just enhances my renewed faith in Mozilla. I hate to call myself a fanboy of any technology, but I haven’t used Safari, Chrome, Opera, or even Internet Explorer the entire time that I’ve had Firefox installed on all of my machines. Color me very impressed with Mozilla.
The brand-new version of Firefox weighs in at 17.11MB. If you haven’t checked out Mozilla’s browsers in a while, it’s a good time to do so: the products are fast and work very well – and best of all, they’re completely free.
Download: Google Play Store
I’d love to see a feature by feature breakdown of Firefox vs Chrome vs Dolphin vs Opera vs whatever on Android. I don’t think anyone’s done this in a while, if ever. I know the whole situation’s pretty dynamic but still. I know Firefox has Flash now, and has had a neat convert to PDF feature for a while, both things that Chrome lacks.
That’s a good idea. Maybe one of our writers will whip up a nice chart.
I usually use the stock browser on my devices and am open to being convinced to switch to something else. You use Chrome on everything?
I’ve typically used Firefox for most of my browsing on the desktop/laptop and Gmail for opening certain things (Calendar, Tasks, Mail, college Blackboard account, etc.) separate from my main browsing session… Just started using Chrome on my EVO LTE last week tho and I’m considering switching to Chrome everywhere, gotta give Firefox on Android another shot first (last time I tried it they still had serious performance issues). Until now I’ve used the stock browser on my previous EVOs and my tablet, session/tab/bookmark sync and more frequent upgrades make the other browsers hard to ignore tho. I could probably live without Flash on Chrome, with the Flashify extension you can open Flash content in the stock browser from within Chrome… I’m kinda curious about other less advertised differences between Chrome and FF tho, like the PDF thing, or add ons (LastPass add-on sounds handy).